


Breaking Normal

by jdwtpa74



Category: Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Genre: Childhood, Childhood Memories, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-06-03
Packaged: 2018-03-31 08:20:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3970753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jdwtpa74/pseuds/jdwtpa74
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>**UPDATED***This started out as a short drabble, but (thanks to some prodding) has turned into more of a loud roar.  Alas, I don't own the characters Caine Wise, Jupiter Jones, Stinger Alpini, et.al.  If I did, the movie would've been 45 minutes or so longer.  Plot bunnies love comments, so please comment away!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. God Help the Outcasts

Chapter 1

_“God help the outcasts…the poor and downtrod”_

 

“I was raised without a pack.  It’s hard to explain what that does to a lycantant, what it forces on us, but I’ll try my best.  I don’t remember anything about my birth littler.  We’re all pretty weak and our eyes aren’t open yet when we’re newborn.  I only have the bits and pieces I read from my personnel records and Stinger, of course, but apparently there were 5 of us.  Three males, two females, and I…well…I was the runt of my litter.”

“Really?” Jupiter’s voice brings me back to the present, and the quilt she has spread out on her rooftop for us to stargaze.  It’s peaceful up here.  Her dwelling…suburb…is different from my quarters in the city which thrums with light and noise at all hours.  Here it’s quieter and easier to sift through it all, the sounds and smells, to connect in some small way with the family she holds so dear.

“Yes,” I reply, tearing my gaze away from the alien constellations of her world to look at her instead “but your Majesty already knows this.”

She narrows her dark eyes at me and purses her lips as if she’s trying to decide if I’m joking at her expense or not.  It has been two months since Jupiter Jones first graced me with her companionship.  Ours has evolved into a relationship of teasing jokes and gentle understanding…it is as unfamiliar to me as the flowers that grow in her garden.  The only other companionship I have ever known was the rough company of the men and women I served with in the Legion.

“Alright, smart ass, I knew you were a runt…I just find it hard to believe, that’s all.”

I quirk a brow at her in amusement “Why is that?”

“Well,” she starts, her eyes flicking over me quickly “I mean…you’re brave…and…and…sooo…athletic, and able to…leap tall buildings…and stuff…yeah, I’m just gonna shut up now.”

I cannot see Jupiter blush in the darkness, that’s beyond the capabilities of even my night vision, but I can hear the subtle increase in her heartbeat, sense the pleasant heating in her flesh.  She finds my form pleasing and that thought makes me feel…well…it makes me feel like I’ve been injected with stims, like the blood in my veins has been replaced with electricity. 

I drop my gaze and incline my head respectfully “Eloquent as always, your Majesty.  The corporate board of Abrasax Industries will eat from your palm.”

“Jerk!” she laughs as her punch lands just below my shoulder.

Hmm…not bad, our afternoons training in self-defense are starting to pay off.

“If you’re finished abusing the staff, shall I continue?”

She curls up, tucking in snug against me, and lays her head on my shoulder.

“You’re not my staff,” she says quietly bussing a kiss against my splice-mark “and I never abuse anyone…except Vladie and you gotta admit he has it coming.”

I can’t fight the whimper she elicits every time she kisses my neck.  It’s as intoxicating as her scent…all exotic flowers and precious spices.

“If I’m not your staff, what am I?” I whisper, eyes drifting shut for one blissful moment.

She says nothing, but I can feel her lips curving into a smile against my skin “Go on with your story.  I want to get to know you.”

I table the question for a moment and swallow my doubts like a bitter pill.  Splices are disposable to most entitled…used for business or pleasure (or both) until we lose our appeal.  My story, the story of my childhood, isn’t appealing at all.  I don’t think the woman I saved and now guard with my life has changed so much that she would ever treat us…treat me…like something disposable, but we don’t really know one another beyond our immediate shared past.  I suspect that’s the motive behind tonight’s date.  It’s more subdued than what I’ve experienced in her company thus far.  I’m aware that after tonight, after Jupiter hears just how defective I am, she may send me away, and she would have every right to do so.

 “Fine,” I sigh “but when your Majesty said we needed to find our rhythm tonight, I expected more dancing and less talking.”

She’s smirking at me.  I can’t see, but I can tell.

It’s quiet again for a moment, and I take a deep breath to still my troubled thoughts.  In her lodgings…house…I can hear her youngest cousin flipping through the pages of a book in his bedroom.  It’s followed by the tread of his mother’s footstep on the stairs…he’s going to get in trouble because it’s past his bedtime.  Her uncle and other male cousin…the older, sly one, are watching television and making snide comments on the sexuality of the nightly weatherman.  Some of the female cousins and aunts are cutting paper at the family table, while her mother and the aunt her Majesty is closest to are having a quiet conversation about men and telescopes in her kitchen.  Their domesticity is oddly comforting, and I have never taken comfort in such activity before now.

“Ok, I was born a runt…a half albino runt.  Stinger likes to say that I was born to standout.  I think he means it as a joke, but he’s genome-engineered for a hive.  He can’t know what standing out in a lycantant pack truly means.  Standouts challenge things like pack dynamics, and runts…well…runts always have something to prove.  Luckily enough, I wasn’t born a full albino.”

“What’s wrong with albinos?” I can hear the frown in Jupiter’s voice.

I may not know her as well as I’d like to yet, but I know her well enough.  She isn’t going to like the next part.

“Well,” I pause for a moment to gather my thoughts and she shifts impatiently next to me “there’s nothing wrong with being an albino per-se.  It could just be an indicator of evolutionary drift, or it could be a warning sign to the splicer that there’s an undesirable mutation in his or her breeding stock.  If it’s the former, not a big deal; the albino is sold for a loss and probably spends his or her career riding a desk.  If it’s the latter….”

Jupiter props herself up on her elbows and looks at me with furrowed brows “What?  What happens if it’s the latter?”

In the past, it was easier just to be dispassionate about the shit happening to average people in the universe.  All that changed when I found the woman beside me.

I try but fail to keep the loathing from my voice “Depending on the projected loss, the splicer will recode or recycle the entire litter.”

I watch her mouth open and close in disbelief “That’s…that’s…royally fucked up!  Don’t the parents have any say?”

“Lycantant bloodlines are relatively pure.  Splicers rely on host DNA to make up any genetic diversity.  If there’s a mistake it’s assumed to be the splicer’s fault.  It would be the death of their business…and their stock…if word ever got out.  Pack alphas rarely voice any objections unless they want to put the entire pack at risk.”

“Oh my God.” Jupiter lies back down, but does not resume her place at my side.

“I’m sorry if I upset you.” I murmur trying to ignore the knot of uncertainty in my stomach; I come from a very ugly industry, and I worry that the truth will be a little too much for our fragile bond “Should I…go?”

When she answers, Jupiter’s voice sounds husky.  “No, I’m sorry I just over…no, I didn’t over-react.  I just can’t believe they would do that to a baby…they would’ve done that to you. ”

Anger and sadness changes her scent making her smell like thunder storms and ancient trees as she curls around me once more.    

“I’m not that cub though,” I assure her “I was a mistake, but I made it…I survived.”

“Would you put your children through that?”

“No.” I answer right away.

It must have been the right answer because I can feel the tension start to drain from her body.

“I lived my life as an outcast,” I continue on “I would not wish that on any cub of mine.  I know it sounds cruel to you, and it is, but that’s nature.  Our packs are our emotional and moral centers.  We hunt together, we fight together, and we love together.  I was deprived of all that, and more, but in a way I was lucky.”

I sit up to spread my wings out before I continue.  It’s dark enough that none of her neighbors will see, and even if they are looking, they will assume I have a blanket over my shoulders.  Jupiter’s fingers stroke through my tawny feathers and I let out a pleased, rumbling growl.

“Stinger told me once that lycantants without a pack either die or become hunters, like you.”

I nod quietly “It’s true.  For all of the bad things you may think about our packs, it’s not all brutal.  We’re social animals just like you, but we’re not as fractious.  A pack is one unit made up of multiple personalities.  As much as it hurts to miss, lone wolves like me get to experience different ways of being.  Put simply, we adapt to the universe around us, or we die.  Sometimes, making that change requires a…hardening.”  I pause and look over at her, knowing the expression on my face softens every time.  “We get to meet other people, find that there are different ways to live.  Most lycantants don’t get that chance.  Sure the packs travel on legion assignments, but they are usually lycantant only units.  When it comes time to settle down, we’re mated and turn our attention to maintaining or governing the pack.  To know there are other people with other ways…it can be a little much.”

“You don’t travel after you’re mated…er…married?”  Jupiter looks at me with open curiosity, and this time I’m the one who’s blushing.  Not for the first time, I’m glad her species has duller senses.

“My kind mate for life.” I almost whisper.  It’s definitely low enough that if she asks me to repeat myself, I can make something else up on the spot.  “Maintaining pack business is a full time job for a mated pair, and it’s difficult to spend any time apart once you’re joined.”  

I can hear Jupiter’s heartbeat accelerate along with her breathing; it’s accompanied by the smell of warm silk and jasmine bowers…pheromones. 

“Caine,” she asks again with a husky voice “is that something that changes with lone wolves?”

“No, but I can only speak for myself.  No one wants to mate with an outcast half-albino aberrant runt.”

Her tackle catches me by surprise as does the hungry kiss she all but consumes my lips with.  Fuck my self-loathing!  My body responds like any warm-blooded male, and there are suddenly way too many clothes between us.  I fit her hips against my waist so that she’s sitting in my lap with her legs wrapped around me.   The desire to take her here and now is so strong…but I don’t.  There’s no doubt that she can feel just how much I want to, and her body is giving off signs of its own…I just need her to be sure.  As if she can read my mind, she pulls back just enough to release some pressure on my throbbing groin. 

She smiles shyly at me, biting her lower lip in such a way as to make me want to second guess my abstinence “That was a promise.”

How she is capable of speech at a time like this is amazing.  Right now, I’m just trying to get my brain back in gear.

“I know you’ve been conditioned to think there’s no chance for a splice and an entitled, or that you are undesirable…but you’re wrong.” She leans forward to press her forehead against mine, pinning me with the force of her gaze “I’m going to prove it to you, Caine Wise.  You better prepare yourself, because you’re not an outcast any more.  You belong to me, and I’m not talking about as a servant.”

“Jupiter,” Her mother’s voice sounds from inside causing us both to freeze “come inside, it’s getting cold.  Baba is making tea.”

“Be right there!” she groans and wraps herself around me once more.  The spark is still present…just dampened a little.

“Go, be with your family.  I still have to fly patrol, or Stinger will clip me himself.” I manage to grind out.

“You’re part of my family too.” Jupiter whispers, and I swear my heart will explode.  “I want you to meet them.”

“When the time is right, your Majesty.”

  She grins against my lips “Say it again….”

“Your Majesty?”

“No, the part about when the time is right.”


	2. We are the People

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- I encourage you to go back and re-read Chapter 1 if you have been following along. It has been completely re-written to be (I feel) truer to Caine's character. I hope you enjoy, please leave a comment or kudos to let me know!

Chapter 2

_“We are the people that rule the world, a force running in every boy and girl…”_

 

Jupiter’s foot comes close to my skin, close enough that I can feel the gravity waves from her boot rippling against my flesh as I dodge to her right.

“You call that a kick?” I growl mercilessly.

Long black tresses have pulled loose from her ponytail and frame her delicate face.  Everything about her is delicate, and some have mistaken this for weakness.  She is, however, one of the strongest beings I know.  If only I can train her to harness some of that emotional force….

“No,” she grinds out between clenched teeth “I…call…it…maneuvering…for…advantage!”

She uses her roundhouse momentum to bring her knee up into my stomach and knocks me backwards.  I’m impressed.  I don’t get caught by surprise too often, especially by one of my own moves.  She’s starting to improvise…good.

Her Majesty rocks back on the balls of her feet, with her fists raised in a classic kickboxing stance and gloats “Yes!  That’ll teach you to fuck with your Queen!”  How lady-like…I have to admit I find it very appealing.

“Nice,” I wheeze out from my position on the floor “does your Majesty kiss her boyfriend with that mouth?”

 I’m still not familiar with the connotations of the word “boyfriend”, but the title was bestowed on me after the evening we passed on her roof a few days ago.  I rented some movies with the word in their title, but the subject matter varies so greatly.  Some are obviously romantic, a few seem to be horror stories, and one looks like an explicit documentary on human mating practices called “My Daughter’s Boyfriend” (do they really talk like that and make those noises?).  I had to turn the last one off quickly though, it did nothing to alleviate my willpower problem.  Now here she is, sparring with me, touching me, sweating and making her scent permeate my living quarters all while wearing the tight clothing she only wears when we train.  Boyfriend must mean “frustrated practice dummy.”

Right now, the source of my frustration is gazing down at me with one graceful eyebrow raised in amusement “Yes, and I haven’t heard you complaining about it.  In fact, you kind of make this cute little whim….”

My arm shoots out, sweeping across her ankles and in a matter of seconds she is laying on the training mat beside me.  I roll over, using my weight to pin her down until the squirming stops.  I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t enjoy myself…just a little.  It was a _very_ long night after I turned that last movie off.

Jupiter’s expression cycles between fury and sensuality “Gravity boots are a great tactical advantage, but don’t forget they also make you vulnerable.”

She finally settles on a very distracting pout “Are you really going to lecture me right now?”

I grow serious, reaching down to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear “Your safety is of paramount concern to me.  If anything were to happen to you…if I couldn’t protect you….” I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head like I’m trying to clear away a putrid stench.  In fact I’m trying to shake the image of her falling through Jupiter’s crushing atmosphere while that damn refinery blew apart around us.

“Hey, it’s ok.” Her fingers stroke my face “I get it.”

If Balem Abraxas were alive and here right now, I would gladly eviscerate him with my bare hands.  Control is a tenuous thing, and I’m fighting like hell for it.

“In the Legion,” I tell her slowly, letting my words become a type of meditation “we’re taught to fight individually and as a unit.  One Legionnaire on the battlefield is strong, a unit is unstoppable.”

I finally open my eyes and look down at her “The Legion raised me…educated me…fed me…and gave me a place to rest my head.  In exchange, they asked me to fight.  I began training at a young age, and I’ve never really stopped.”

She looks back at me, obviously struggling with some control issues of her own “Is that what you’re doing?  Training me to fight like a Skyjacker?”

“That would require wings.” I laugh softly, all kinds of pleased that she’s having the same reactions to me that I have for her.  “I’m teaching you to fight like a Legionnaire, although the hand to hand stuff is pretty similar.”

“So…if a Legionnaire on the battlefield is strong, and a unit is unstoppable, what about a Legionnaire and a Skyjacker?”

I can’t help it and grin at her bearing my teeth “Give up and go home.”

Jupiter laughs, twines her arms around my neck and kisses me.  She runs her tongue over my canines without fear before pulling back to look me in the eyes once more.

“Alright then, teach me how to kick ass.”

For the next hour we spar.  She peppers me with questions about my training in the Legion and as a Skyjacker.  I describe to her being a shy four year old when I joined my first training squad.  I tell her about the voluntary but brutal pit fights that strengthened me as warrior, the subterfuge games that I won because I could smell out my squad mates, being groomed as a tracker, and the singular discipline I developed to help me endure the loss of my pack.  I dole out tidbits of my life to her as a reward every time she scores a hit, or finds a weakness in my defense. 

Jupiter tells me about her life, growing up with a heavy Russian accent, being teased or feared by other children, being taught to box a little by her uncle after she lost a couple of fights, being made fun of because her grandmother made all her junior dance dresses.  I’m no stranger to the disparagement between rich and poor, though I admit to being confused about the politics of her world.  She tells me a little about the deep political and philosophical divide between Russia and America.  After a while she frowns and suggests that I might obtain more accurate information from a political science book.  Little does she know, I just like hearing her voice.

Following a particularly vicious combination where she actually manages to tag me, I tell her about being tapped for an elite Skyjacker unit and getting my wings.  I tell her about feeling truly free when I took to the air, confessing to her it was the first time I ever felt such a way.  I describe what it feels like to exit a drop ship in high atmosphere leading the charge while Legion units rain down around me in heavy mechanized suits.  Her head is slightly tilted as I finish my story, a slightly glazed and troubled expression on her face.  I watch as she pads over to her backpack, rummages for a moment, then returns with a familiar black tablet.

I flashed back to the last time I had seen one in her grasp.  The memories of betraying her, of wanting something so bad it had obliterated my conscience, curdled my stomach with bile.  I remembered the haunted look on her face, the expression that said she was drowning in the depths of her new reality.  When I’d bowed scraping my damn commission off the deck of that Aegis cruiser I felt like I’d been spliced with some kind of reptile.  The mattress and bedclothes in my temporary quarters didn’t stand a chance against my rage.  If Stinger had come in at that time, redeemed or not, I would have ended him.

“Does this buy me an army?” Jupiter asks, and I can see her hand shaking.

“No, it gives you an army.”

The Legion requisition drops from her nerveless fingers “Why?”

I walk over to her slowly, wrap my arms around her, my wings around her, and gently tilt her head up to meet my gaze “So nothing will harm you or anything that you love.”

“Will it keep you here?  Will it stop the Legion from sending you and Stinger off to another war?”

I nod “If that is what you wish.”

She takes a deep, shuddering breath and closes her eyes “How do I even file it…shit…the Legion will send more troops…where do I keep them?”

I rub her back in soothing circles “Not everyone will be stationed on Earth.  They’ll be deployed across your holdings.”

“I don’t even know what all I have!  Shit, shit shit!  I need a staff…I need….”

Her phone alarm goes off right on cue, and I feel her slump tiredly in my arms “I need dinner.”

She looks up at me with a world of care in her eyes “I’m going to be late if I don’t leave now, but I don’t want to.”

“Go,” I whisper in her fragrant hair “be with your family.  I’ll look over your requisition with Stinger.  We’ll figure something out.”

**Author's Note:**

> \- This might turn into a multi-chapter fic...but I'll hedge my bets for now....  
> \- Ok...this HAS turned into a multi-chapter fic with bells and whistles and bric-a-brac.


End file.
